My Experience As An International Student in Korea, Kangwon National University

My Experience As An International Student in Korea, Kangwon National

University

My name is Merve. I am from Turkey and am currently learning Korean language in

Kangwon National University, Chuncheon. I want to continue my higher education

in Korea, but before that I decided to learn Korean first. It's both for to communicate

with local people and to raise my chance of being accepted one of the best

universities in Korea.

It's my fifth time to visit Korea and finally I decided to spend a couple years of my life

here. When I consider my time and my foreign friends’ experiences in Korea, I can

say that it is easy to live in Korea as a foreigner. People are hospitable to foreigners;

even though many people can’t speak English very well, they try to help you. They

use their smartphones to communicate or they simply use their body language. There

are many things I love about this country but the reason I wanted to stay here is the

systems. Education system, healthcare system, transportation system, immigration

system, safety system and so on. Everything is so organized! A place for everything

and everything in its place. Even the messiest thing you will have to deal with, THE

PAPERWORK, is piece of a cake in Korea. You don’t need to worry about anything

except your school. The only stress that you will have to suffer in Korea would be

caused by your school or work. When I try to tell how amazing it is that how

everything is so organized, Korean people wouldn’t understand me since they get

used to this lifestyle. But Middle Easterns and Slavs would understand what I mean.

Chuncheon is a very nice city with clean blue air; not so crowded and noisy as Seoul.

It is a small city lies in the north of Korea. Just like every other city on the north, it is

slightly colder when it is compared to southern cities. Since there are two famous

universities (Kangwon National University and Hallym University) in Chuncheon, it

is a very student-friendly city. There are many cafes, study rooms and pc rooms that

you can study at; restaurants, game rooms, karaoke cafes, pubs and shopping centers

that you can enjoy your free time. Most of them are budget-friendly for students. It is

easy to get to university by public transportation. Once you get to Chuncheon or

Namchuncheon subway station (10 minutes away from Kangwon University by bus),

you can go anywhere you want by subway. Korean railway system is well-developed,

and there are many helpful applications for smartphones in English.

The best thing about the course that it is in the university campus. Therefore I get

chance to meet with students, join events of the university and use different facilities

in the campus. You can access free internet almost everywhere and it is one of the

world’s fastest speed internet. I've met a lot of people from different countries in the

course; when you're a foreigner in a country, it's always easier to socialize with other

foreigners rather than locals. Because you both would have a lot to talk and brag

about the country you're residing in :) Also not all locals in the campus would talk to

you randomly unless you won’t be the one that says hi first.

During the lessons, our Korean teachers don't speak English. Even in the classes for

level one, they try speak in Korean very slowly and clear. When students ask

questions in English, they do understand but they answer in Korean. That helps a lot

to improve listening and understanding Korean language for me. Teachers are very

helpful and they are eager to teach you the same thing again and again when you

don’t understand.

Overall, I am really enjoying my time in Korea. It is one of the best experiences that I

had in my life. It taught me many things, I made a lot of friends from different

countries and also it helped me to learn the third language that I can speak now. The

best way to learn a foreign language is to live where that language is spoken.

Merve Gürsul